


Co-Pilots

by Queenbean3



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 23:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15716952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenbean3/pseuds/Queenbean3
Summary: A selection of Delpad drabbles from Tumblr organized in mostly coherent fashion.





	1. Prompt: “You look like you could use a hug."

**Author's Note:**

> I could have made this short and fluffy but I went the long, angsty route and it took on a mind of its own so here we go. Fic under the cut.

Few people can live the experience of traveling ten years into the future to see what the world would be like without them. Della Duck was one of those few people.

She tried to get back into the swing of things. She offered to fly the Sunchaser again but both Scrooge and Donald were terrified to let her anywhere near the plane. The two of them were always at each other’s throats about something, even more than she remembered. They had barely started speaking to each other again before her return and the rift between them had yet to heal. She frequently found herself caught in the middle trying to mediate between the two even as they played tug of war with her.

She tried to reconnect with Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Her triplet sons–still infants fresh out of their eggs when she left them–had shed their fuzzy yellow down and were now talkative and fully mobile pre-teens. Being with them was one question and answer session after another. She liked telling them stories of her past adventures, but it was hard not to feel like a failure as a parent when hearing about all the growing-up milestones and birthdays and summers and holidays she’d missed.

She wasn’t sure what to make of Webby. The girl was about the same age as the triplets and just as full of questions and energy. She had more or less been adopted as their honorary sibling and she was never far from them. Della liked her, but she asked even more questions than the boys and every conversation was more like an interview.

Della used to go to Mrs. Beakley in the old days when she needed someone to talk to, but the housekeeper was busier than ever. There were more mouths to feed and messes to clean with all the children around. Della rarely saw her except in passing.

There was only one person she felt truly at home with these days, and he wasn’t even family. It was Launchpad, the ditzy new chauffeur who doubled as the new pilot. Strangely enough she didn’t resent him for taking her job. He was the only person she’d met since coming back who didn’t expect anything from her. To him she wasn’t a sister or a niece or a mother or a fallen hero. She was just Della, a fellow pilot and adrenaline junkie. He was easy to talk to and he never judged. It wasn’t long before she was spending all her free time with him.

It started one day after Della had tried to stop an especially nasty fight between Scrooge and Donald. It was about the boys, as all their worst fights were. Tempers had flared and harsh words were spoken and even she had said things she later regretted. She refused to talk to either of them afterward and stormed out to the garage to be alone.

In her anger she slammed the door behind her, but it wasn’t enough. She was still too angry. So she stomped up to the nearest stack of crates and kicked it with all her might. The crates toppled over into a suit of ancient samurai armor. Everything smashed to the floor with a metallic  _CRASH_.

“Whoa, nice crash, Miss Dee!”

Surprised, Della whirled around to see Launchpad in the cluttered garage with her. He stood next to Scrooge’s limo with a wet rag in one hand and a bucket of soapy water in the other, sunlight shining through the open doorway behind him. As always there was a bright smile on his face, which shifted to a concerned frown when he saw how upset she still was.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Della waved some dust away from her face and coughed. “Nothing, it’s just… it’s allergies, that’s all. Too much dust in here.”

He set his bucket and rag down on the floor and walked up to her. “You want a cough drop? I’ve got a few in my pocket.”

“No, I’m really okay.” She coughed again, eyes watering from the dust.

He reached into his left coat pocket and took out two wrapped cough drops. “Here, you can have ‘em both.”

Della rolled her eyes and took one of the candies. She removed the wrapper, put it in her mouth, and sucked on it for a few seconds. Then her brows crinkled in confusion. “This isn’t a cough drop. It’s butterscotch.”

“Really?” Launchpad took a closer look at the wrapped candy in his hand. He took off the wrapper and popped it in his mouth. “Huh,” he muttered after sucking on it thoughtfully. “You’re right. I coulda sworn they were cough drops.” He shrugged. “Heh, silly me.”

Della almost smiled at him. Instead she let out a heavy sigh and sat down next to the fallen armor pieces. “Mind if I hang out here for a while? I don’t want to be around my family right now.”

He looked surprised to hear this. “What? Why wouldn’t you wanna be around your family? They’re so cool!”

“Not today, they’re not.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and folded her arms on top of them. “Sometimes I think it would be better if I never came back.”

He stared down at her. “Um… I don’t understand.”

She sighed again. “No, of course you don’t. You’re an innocent bystander. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Yeah, it does.” He moved to sit next to her, legs crossed and elbows resting on his knees. “Wanna talk about it?”

Della stared at the empty samurai helmet lying sideways on the floor in front of her. “It’s just…so much has changed. My uncle, my brother, my kids, they’ve all turned into different people. I don’t know them anymore.”

Launchpad nodded his head. “Yeah, that makes sense.” 

“I keep trying to fit in here,” she went on. “But I just  _can’t_. There’s too many years I’ve missed out on. I can never make up for that, not unless I go back in time.”

“That would be cool,” Launchpad mused aloud. “Like that movie about the guy who built a time machine. He went back in time to save his wife from getting murdered.”

Della turned to look at him, eyebrows arched in curiosity. “Did it work?”

“Yeah!” he said, smiling and nodding his head. “But then she got trampled by a horse. So he went into the future to find a better way to change the past, and then the moon crashed into the Earth, and then the world was ruled by a race of hideous ape creatures, and then…” He paused in mid-ramble. “Uh…This isn’t helping, is it?”

She sat there staring at him blankly. Then she smiled weakly and shook her head. “No, but it was kinda funny.”

Launchpad smiled back crookedly and scratched the back of his neck. He was quiet for a moment, thinking of what to say next. 

“Miss Dee, I…I don’t really know what you’re goin’ through. I’m just a pilot-slash-chauffeur. But I  _do_  know Mr. McDee and Mr. Dee and the boys all love you. They’re really glad you’re back and they all want you to stay.”

Della didn’t say anything at first. Deep down she knew Launchpad was right, and she felt oddly comfortable with him, more comfortable than she’d felt in a very long time. Even though she didn’t know much about him he felt like a friend, and she needed a friend more than anything.

“Thanks, Launchpad,” she said at last. “I’m glad I talked to you.”

He smiled wider. “No problemo, Miss Dee!” Then he spread his arms wide. “Wanna hug? You look like you could use a hug.”

She blinked at him. “Are you serious?”

“I’m always serious about hugs,” he said solemnly. “My mom always said there’s no problem a hug can’t solve.”

She hesitated a moment longer. Then she shrugged. “Eh, sure, why not?”

Della scooted a bit closer and allowed Launchpad to wrap his arms around her. It surprised her how nice they felt. He was huge and his muscles were firm under his clothing, yet he was holding her so gently. Her face was on his chest and his jacket smelled like smoke, diesel fumes, and pine trees. It was an oddly comforting scent that reminded her of flying the Sunchaser. Her small body relaxed, before she knew it her arms were wrapped around his waist.

She wasn’t sure how long the hug lasted, but when she pulled away she felt lighter than she had when she first came to the garage. “Wow,” she said at last. “That was a nice hug.”

He looked pleased with himself and smiled. “Always happy to help, Miss Dee.”

She smiled back. “Call me Della.”

 


	2. Prompt: “You’d be a great dad.”

“You’d be a great dad.”

“Uh…I would?”

“Yeah, you’re a natural with the kids,” Della went on. ”You like hanging out with them and they like you, too. Look at them up there, having the best day ever.”

The kids were riding the roller coaster at the Duckburg amusement park while Launchpad and Della waited on the ground, arms loaded with snacks and stuffed animals. As the coaster whizzed by they heard Dewey’s voice shouting over the delighted screams. “This is the best day ever!”

Launchpad chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point there.”

“I’m kinda jealous,” Della said. “Huey, Dewey, and Louie are my sons, but I hardly know them anymore. And Webby is sweet but I can hardly get a word in with her.”

“That’s understandable,” Launchpad said. “You’re the only person in the family Webby doesn’t know anything about, and you haven’t seen the boys in, like, ten years.”

Della looked down at a dirty hot dog wrapper crumpled on the ground. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come back.”

Launchpad’s head snapped around in surprise as he stared wide-eyed at her. “What? Why would you say that?”

“I wasn’t ready to be a mom when I had the boys,” she admitted. “It was totally unplanned, their dad left before they were hatched, and I had no idea what I was doing. My brother had to raise them for me, and now they’ve turned into little people I don’t know.”

Launchpad knew most of this story already but he still frowned at the mention of the boys’ dad leaving Della. What kind of jerk walked away from the mother of his own children like that? Della might not win any Parent of the Year awards but she had at least tried before the Spear of Selene incident happened. Even that had been for the sake of her family.

He switched over to cheering up mode and was all smiles again. “Well, now that you’re back you’ve got the rest of their lives to get to know them! They really want you to be here, y’know. You’re still their mom and that’s never gonna change.”

She smiled up at him. “Thanks, Launchpad. You’re really easy to talk to.”

“No problem-o, Della! I’m always happy to help.”

“Mom! Launchpad!”

Della turned toward the voice and saw Webby and the boys running toward them from the roller coaster. They all looked happy with their bright eyes and big smiles.

“Thanks for holding our snacks!” Huey said. “Can we please have them back?”

“Sure, little buddies!” Launchpad said, passing all the snacks back to them. “There’s Huey’s lemonade, Dewey’s soft pretzel, Louie’s cotton candy, and Webby’s caramel apple.”

“Can we get ice cream next?” Dewey asked hopefully.

“That’s a question for your mom,” Launchpad said.

“Pleeeease, Mom?” Louie begged, his eyes big and shiny. “I’m starving!”

“You still haven’t finished your cotton candy,” Webby pointed out.

Della chuckled and shook her head. “Finish up your snacks first, and then we’ll see about getting ice cream.”

As the kids gobbled up their food, Launchpad nudged Della with his elbow. “See? You’re acting like a mom already.”

 


	3. Prompt: Kiss Me

“Kiss me.”

Della blurted this out to Launchpad roughly two months after she came back to McDuck Manor. Things had finally begun to settle with her family and she was feeling much more at home. This was due in large part to Launchpad himself. Throughout the emotional roller coaster ride that was her life, he had always been there to cheer her up. Soon she came to see him as her closest friend and confidant. Scatter-brained as he was, he had a stabilizing effect on her. And the more she got to know him the more attracted she was to him.

She was pretty sure he was into her, too. Sometimes she’d catch him looking at her when he thought she didn’t notice, or he’d laugh a little too hard at her jokes, or hold her hand a bit too long when he helped her out of the limo or down the Sunchaser’s stairs. Every time he would look away shyly with his cheeks turning pink. He was always so adorable when he did that.

Della had wanted to tell him how she felt sooner but it was never the right time. Her sons or her brother or her uncle always needed her more. But that evening it was just the two of them. They were adventuring in the Amazon Rainforest with Scrooge, Donald, and the kids. They’d set up camp and Della and Launchpad were sent to collect water in buckets. Both of them were sweating from the heat, and as soon as he saw the river Launchpad tossed his bucket aside, tore off his hat, jacket, and shirt in one swift motion, dropped to his knees, and dunked his head in the water.

As he pulled his head back out and sat on his heels, red hair dripping wet and water running down his chest and back, Della could only stare at him in surprised admiration. She already knew he had a great body but had never seen him shirtless before. He was even more beautiful than she could have imagined. Then, without thinking, she said two words that changed everything.

“Kiss me.”

Launchpad pushed his hair out of his face and stared back at her in surprise. “What?”

Her body froze and her eyes widened in horror when she realized what she had said. Oh no. No, no, no, no. She wasn’t supposed to say that. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

“Della?” He sounded worried. “Did you just say ‘kiss me’?”

Her face turned bright red with embarrassment and she dropped her empty bucket on the ground. “Uh…” she said, searching desperately for the right thing to say. All that came out was a much longer “Uhhhhh…”

Launchpad blushed and looked away, adorable as always. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck for a few seconds. When he spoke again his voice was shaky with nerves. “Um…I-I-If you really want me to k-k-kiss ya, I will.”

She gaped at him in total silence. “You…you will?”

He nodded, cheeks burning as red as his hair. “Y-Y-Yeah… I w-wanted to ask you that for a long time…”

“You did? Why didn’t you say something?”

“I was hopin’ you’d say somethin’ first.”

Still somewhat dazed, Della knelt on the riverbank beside him. She was no longer embarrassed but her heart was still racing. This was it. This was the perfect moment she had waited for. Now was her chance.

She cleared her throat and sat up straight. “Okay, let’s try this again. Launchpad, will you kiss me?”

He stopped scratching his neck and looked back at her, eyes filled with hope. “I would love to.”

Her breath hitched and her entire body felt warmer. Then she closed her eyes. “Go ahead. I’m ready.”

There was a long moment of silence as she waited. She started to open one eye to make sure he was still there. Then, all of a sudden, he lunged and his forehead and beak crashed into hers.

She yelped and flinched back in pain. “OW!!” she cried, rubbing her throbbing forehead with one hand. “What was that??”

Launchpad was absolutely mortified and waving his hands up and down frantically. “Oh no! Della, I’m so sorry! I panicked! Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you, I swear!”

Della groaned and shook her head. Of course Launchpad, of all people, would crash into a kiss. She should have expected that. It was time for her to take charge.

He was still babbling apologies until she reached out and put her hands on either side of his face. Then he went wide-eyed. “D-D-Della?”

“It’s okay, Launchpad,” she said, holding an even gaze and speaking calmly. “I get it now.”

“You get what now?”

“I should have just kissed you myself.”

Before Launchpad could say anything else, Della gently brought his face toward hers and kissed him softly on the lips. It was a shy, nervous kiss. She could hear her own heart pounding in her ears.

At first he was too surprised to react. Then his hands moved to hold her waist and slipped behind her back. She all but melted on the spot. He was returning her kiss and pulling her closer to him, and her own hands drifted down to rest on his shoulders. When the kiss ended they both had blissful smiles on their faces.

“Wow…” Launchpad said as he gazed dreamily at her, his smile big and lopsided. “Good kiss…”

Della giggled and traced his jawline with one finger. She couldn’t remember what she’d been so worried about. “Thanks. You’re pretty good, too.”

He giggled back and blushed again. “All I did was give you a head butt. You did all the real work.”

At the word ‘work’ her face fell. They still had work to do. “We’d better fill up our buckets and get back to camp.”

He was just as disappointed as she was. “Do we have to?”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod. “Or else everyone’ll worry and come looking for us.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Guess I better put my shirt back on, too.”

While Launchpad was getting dressed Della took both of their buckets and filled them with river water. When she was done she stood up and turned to him only to start giggling again.

“What?”

“You put your jacket on backwards.”

Launchpad looked down at himself and saw she was right. With an awkward chuckle he pulled it off and turned it around. “Hehehe… I meant to do that.”

Once his jacket was on the right way he put his hat back on his head. Then he took one of the buckets and they started back to the campsite side by side. It was quiet for a while until Launchpad spoke again.

“Hey, Della? Once we’re back in Duckburg, would you maybe… wanna go out to dinner sometime?”

Della smiled up at him. “I would love to.”

 


	4. Prompt: First Date

Della’s first date with Launchpad was predictably chaotic. It started out simply enough. First they drove into town, which was an adventure in itself thanks to Launchpad’s reckless driving. Then they stopped at Hamburger Hippo for dinner, where Della watched in amazement as Launchpad wolfed down three triple cheeseburgers in front of her. Not to be outdone she gulped down two large cups of orange soda and belched, which he found truly impressive. Then they got into a belching contest, and they got so loud that the manager threw them both out.

After that they went to the Avian Theater to watch Vampires from Planet X. Della found it laughably bad but Launchpad was legitimately terrified. He clung to her every time something scared him, and she discovered that the most effective way to calm him down was distracting him with kisses. The only problem with that was once they started neither of them wanted to stop. Soon they were passionately making out in the theater, and they got so loud that the manager threw them both out.

They went back to where Launchpad had left the car parked, or rather he crashed it into a lamppost. Unfortunately that spot turned out to be a tow away zone and the car was gone. Neither of them had noticed the big red and white sign reading TOW AWAY ZONE in big bold letters because it had broken off its post when the car first crashed.

Now they were sitting on the curb while Launchpad called the number on the sign about getting his car back. Once he was finished he smiled at Della. “Good news! The guy at the lot said I can pick my car up tomorrow! All I gotta pay is a fifty dollar fine!”

“Great,” Della said, “But how are we gonna get home tonight? We don’t have a car.”

Launchpad tapped at his phone’s touch screen. “No sweat, I’ll just get a Boober to pick us up.”

Della’s brows twisted in confusion. “What’s a Boober? Is that a taxi service?”

“Yeah, kinda.” He paused and looked down at her. “Boober wasn’t around ten years ago, huh?”

“Nope,” she said as she shook her head. “If you wanted a ride somewhere you had to stand by the side of the road and wave down a cab.”

“Wow, that’s so old school.” He tapped the screen two more times. “Bingo! Says our ride’ll be here in two minutes.”

“That’s good news.” She hugged herself and shuddered. “Ugh, why did I wear shorts and no shoes? Now I’m covered in goosebumps.”

He frowned. “It’s cold, you should take my jacket.”

Before Della could say she didn’t need it he had already unzipped his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. It was huge on her, like a big fuzzy blanket. And it smelled just like Launchpad. She blushed and flustered a bit before settling in under the jacket’s warmth.

“Wow, this is really nice,” she remarked, rubbing the jacket’s furry lining. “Aren’t you cold without it?”

Launchpad shrugged his big shoulders and smiled. “Nah, I’m good. I’m more worried about you gettin’ blown away with the wind.”

Della smiled back. She pushed her arms through the sleeves. They were too short to come out the other end. “Wow, you’ve got such long arms! I feel like a little kid playing dress up in my dad’s clothes!”

He snickered. “Heheh, you kinda look like a little kid, too!”

“Oh yeah?” she asked, a mischievous smile on her face. “Could a little kid do this?”

Della flung her arms around Launchpad’s neck and kissed him so hard his feathers stood on end. Then he pulled her into his lap and kissed her back with equal intensity. It made them both giggle and feel even warmer, both inside and out.

Just then a car pulled up and stopped in front of them. The passenger window rolled down and the driver spoke. “Are you Launchpad McQuack? I’m here to pick you up.”

“Hey, great timing!” Launchpad scooped Della up in one arm as if she were weightless and opened the door with his free hand. She couldn’t stop giggling as he carried her into the back seat with him and shut the door.

The driver seemed bored and completely unfazed by their behavior when she looked over her shoulder at them. “Where to, folks?”

“McDuck Manor,” Della said. “And take the scenic route. We’re not in any hurry.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the driver said.

She turned on the radio to drown out the sounds of the couple kissing and giggling like children. They were too loud.

 


	5. Prompt: Stargazing

It was a warm night in June. Della and Launchpad lay side by side on a blanket spread out on the lawn behind McDuck Manor, looking up at the sky and talking about the stars.

“That one’s Cygnus the swan,” Launchpad said. He pointed at nine stars arranged like a cross. “See? Those are the wings, and that one’s the head. Oh! And that star at the end of the tail is Deneb, second brightest star in the sky.”

Della smiled, hands folded over her stomach. “Wow, you know your stars pretty well.”

“Thanks!” he said with a proud grin. “Five years of Junior Woodchucks summer camp. They taught us how to navigate using the constellations. Now it’s your turn!”

“Hmm… I see Aquila the eagle on the lower right, and up there across the Milky Way is Lyra the harp.” She pointed at the two constellations. “Wow, the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd are getting really close.” 

Launchpad frowned. “Huh? Weaver Girl and Cowherd? Which ones are those?”

“They’re stars.” She pointed to a bright star in the harp. “See, that’s Vega. She’s the Weaver Girl. That’s Altair, he’s the Cowherd. And there’s the Milky Way, the river that keeps the two lovers apart.”

“Ooooh, okay.” A moment of silence. “Wait, what? Lovers?”

Della nodded. “Yep. Literal star-crossed lovers.”

Launchpad turned toward her with big, shiny eyes. “I didn’t know that!”

“Oh, you didn’t?” She smirked playfully. “That’s too bad, it’s a good story.”

A soft gasp. He rolled over to squeeze her arm and beamed with excitement. “I  _love_  stories! Tell me, tell me! Pleeeeease?”

Della laughed at his eagerness. “Okay, okay! This is a really old story. It dates back to Ancient China around 2600 years ago. There’s different versions of it all over Eastern and Southeastern Asia. The one I’m about to tell you comes from Ancient Japan.”

Launchpad curled up into a ball and hugged his knees. “Ooh, this is gonna be good!”

She cleared her throat and began to tell the story. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful Weaver Girl who lived in the sky. Her name was Orihime, and she was the daughter of Tentei, the King of Heaven. Orihime’s duty was to weave the fabric used to make kimonos for all the gods, and every day she would weave cloth by the banks of the Heavenly River. King Tentei wanted her to take a husband, so he introduced her to Hikoboshi, a young Cowherd who lived on the other side of the river. The two fell in love at first sight and were married, and they were very happy together.”

Launchpad smiled. “Awww.”

“But…” Della went on, pausing briefly to build suspense. “They were  _too_  happy together. So much that they neglected their duties. Orihime stopped weaving and Hikoboshi stopped cow herding! Soon the gods had no clothes to wear and there were cows roaming all over the sky!”

Launchpad gasped. “Oh no!”

“There was such chaos that King Tentei had no choice but to separate the two lovers. Orihime pleaded with her father until he agreed to let her see Hikoboshi on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar year. But on the first day they were to be reunited, they couldn’t get across the Heavenly River. Orihime wept and her sobs were heard by a flock of magpies. They took pity on the poor lovers and they formed a bridge across the river for Orihime to cross over to meet Hikoboshi. And so it is every year, on every seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar year.”

“Wow!” Launchpad said. He gazed up at the two stars representing the lovers. “Which day is that exactly?”

“It varies from year to year,” Della replied. “Usually it’s in August. That’s when they celebrate the lovers’ reunion with the Star Festival.”

His eyebrows rose upward. “ _There’s a festival?_ ”

She smiled at the delight on his face and nodded. “Yep, every year in Japan! I went there once with Uncle Scrooge and Donald. There’s food, games, decorations, fireworks…”

“Let’s go this August!” Launchpad interrupted. “We can bring the whole family! It would be so much fun!”

Della tapped her bottom lip. “Hmm, it would. I haven’t been on a big family vacation like that in a really long time. You think the kids would like Japan?”

“They’d love it, especially at festival time.”

She smiled. “I’d love that, too. Let’s talk to Scrooge about it in the morning.”

A comfortable quiet settled over them both. Della scooted closer to Launchpad and he lifted his arm to let her snuggle up to him. 

“You know,” Della said, rolling on her side and draping her arm over his chest. “I haven’t known you that long yet, but I’d really miss you if I couldn’t see you for a year.”

Launchpad smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Would you cross a bridge of magpies to get to me?”

She played with the zipper tab on his jacket. “Babe, I’d cross a bridge of broken glass to get to you.”

He blushed and giggled. “Awww, Dells…”

“I would,” she said, tugging the zipper down and slipping her hand inside the opening. “And then I’d kiss you until you couldn’t breathe.”

He giggled even more and his cheeks turned even pinker. “Dells, stop! I’m blushin’!”

She smiled smugly and kissed him on one pink cheek. “Good. You’re cute when you blush.”

Still giggling, Launchpad put both arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss.

High above in the night sky the stars smiled down on the two lovers.

 


End file.
